South African captain Graeme Smith failed on the opening day of the three-day practice match against Pakistan’s second string here on Tuesday but four other batsmen hit half-centuries.
Smith, 32, managed just two before he was trapped leg-before by paceman Ehsan Adil in the seventh over after Pakistan ‘A’ won the toss and decided to field in hot and humid conditions at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
At close, South Africa reached 332-5 in the match where the first innings will be restricted to 100-overs per side.
Smith, who returned to competitive cricket after a gap of 21 weeks this month due to ankle surgery, was in need of gaining some momentum before the first of two Tests against Pakistan starting in Abu Dhabi from Monday.
But Smith’s failure was the only miss as Jack Kallis (70), A.B. de Villiers (58) Alviro Petersen (58), Hashim Amla (50) and Jean-Paul Duminy (49 not out) all gained useful batting practice in hot and humid conditions.
Faf de Plessis was unbeaten on 25.
Amla and Petersen, who added 105, retired after completing their half-centuries to allow the rest to gain some practice.
De Villiers and Kallis also scored at a healthy run-rate of over four an over by adding 97 runs for the fourth wicket. Kallis hit four sixes and six fours before he gave a return catch to part-time off-spinner Sohaib Maqsood.
Imran Qadir, son of Pakistan’s former leg-spinner Abdul Qadir, got the other success of the day when de Villiers was caught by Pakistan ‘A’ captain Umar Amin.
Pakistani selectors will now watch how their second string batsmen cope against a formidable South African pace attack on Wednesday as they look to fill three remaining place for the two-Test series.
Last week they named 12 players for the series with only one opener in Khurram Manzoor.
South Africa will look to gain more batting practice on spinners as they are set to face off-spinner Saeed Ajmal and two left-armers in Abdur Rehman and Zulfiqar Babar in the Tests.
The second Test will be played in Dubai from Oct 23 followed by five one-day and two Twenty20 matches.
Pakistan’s main team will play a warm-up game against the national team of the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi from Wednesday.—Agencies
Scoreboard
SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings):
G.C. Smith lbw b Ehsan 2
A.N. Pietersen retired out 58
H.M. Amla retired out 50
J.H. Kallis c and b Sohaib 70
A.B. de Villiers c Umar b Usman 58
J.P. Duminy not out 49
F. du Plessis not out 25
EXTRAS (B-12, LB-2, W-1, NB-5) 20
TOTAL (for five wkts, 90 overs) 332
FALL OF WKTS: 1-8, 2-113, 3-137, 4-234, 5-261.
TO BAT: R.J. Peterson, R.K. Kleinveldt, V.D. Philander, D.W. Steyn, Imran Tahir.
BOWLING (to-date): Ehsan Adil 17-3-52-1; Mohammad Imran Khan 14-3-31-0 (1nb, 1w); Aizaz Cheema 15-4-41-0; Umar Amin 3-0-11-0 (2nb); Yasir Shah 20-2-86-0; Usman Qadir 18-2-80-1; Sohaib Maqsood 3-0-17-1 (2nb).
PAKISTAN ‘A’: Ahmed Shehzad, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Amin, Asad Shafiq, Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Usman Qadir, Ehsan Adil, Mohammad Imran Khan, Aizaz Cheema.
UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza and Shozab Raza.
PLAYERS PER SIDE: 13 (11 batting, 11 fielding).
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